Is Florida Gov. Rick Scott's call to boost lottery sales to pay for education a winner?

Haven’t we seen this one before? Back in the day, state lawmakers swore on a stack of quick picks that money raised from a new state lottery would supplement state funding for education in Florida. Swayed by that pledge, Floridians overcame their concerns of gambling and ushered in a game of chance that over time did indeed raise billions of dollars in revenue.

The only problem is that lawmakers, seeing a golden opportunity to fiddle with the funding, took huge chunks of out of general fund revenues earmarked for education and put those toward other projects, ranging from roads to tax cuts. They supplanted the missing money with Lottery money, not thinking that the general public would catch on. They eventually did.

Now, Gov. Scott wants to boost Lottery ticket sales to raise more money for education, an area in the state budget he cut last year and now hopes to replenish by taking money designated for health care programs. Talking about robbing Peter to pay Paul. The governor, and many of his Republican colleagues in the Florida Legislature are loathe to raise new revenue for Florida’s schools. Still, many Floridians want good schools, whether it’s parents worried about their children’s future or those so-called job creators who are fearful of Florida’s workforce.